[e-privacy] (fwd) The FBI's 'Magic Lantern'

[lnoferinMANISUDICIE at cybervalley.org]

Ciao a tutti,

è sicuramente vecchia ma come dicevano i Vecchi, repetita iuvant.

-- forwarded message --
Path: news.cybervalley.org!127.0.0.1!uni-berlin.de!fu-berlin.de!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.icl.net!newsfeed.fjserv.net!news.itconsult.net!freedom.gmsociety.org!usenet-gateway
Message-ID: <052d227e60905421fd7178bdb8e13839 at remailer.xganon.com>
From: Anonymous <remailer at remailer.xganon.com>
Newsgroups: alt.privacy.anon-server
Subject: The FBI's 'Magic Lantern'
Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 12:12:20 -0500
Lines: 117
Return-Path: <xganon.com at xganon.com>
Comments: This message did not originate from the Sender address above.
	It was remailed automatically by anonymizing remailer software.
	Please report problems or inappropriate use to the
	remailer administrator at <abuse at remailer.xganon.com>.
X-No-Archive: yes
X-Loop: mail2news at freedom.gmsociety.com
Mail-To-News-Contact: mail2news-abuse at freedom.gmsociety.org
Organization: mail2news at freedom.gmsociety.org
Xref: clementino.cybervalley.org alt.privacy.anon-server:2228

NOTE: This message was sent thru a mail2news gateway.
No effort was made to verify the identity of the sender.
--------------------------------------------------------

The FBI's 'Magic Lantern'

  The government's next-generation electronic surveillance tool can 
reportedly break
  encryption. See what experts are saying about Magic Lantern.

  By James Hamilton 


   Its been more than six months since the news broke about the FBI's 
new high
   tech spying device named "Magic Lantern." The government, 
understandably,
   wants to keep the Magic Lantern technology under wraps. But that 
didn't stop
   "CyberCrime" from getting the inside scoop on this high tech 
surveillance
   device from experts, which we'll show you on this week's episode.

   The Magic Lantern technology began as part of a broad FBI project 
called
   "Cyber Knight" -- the same project that spawned the notorious 
Carnivore
   email monitoring device. Magic Lantern goes much farther than 
Carnivore,
   though. If initial reports are correct, it will allow investigators 
to secretly install
   software that records every keystroke on a person's computer, steal
   passwords, and read encrypted messages.

   With many encryption programs available on the Internet, the FBI has 
been
   frustrated in efforts to break open encrypted messages, and officials 
are
   increasingly concerned about their ability to read encrypted messages 
in
   criminal or terrorist investigations. 

   Magic Lantern also resolves another important problem with the FBI's 
existing
   computer monitoring technology -- the "key logger system." In the 
past,
   investigators had to break into a target's residence armed with a 
warrant and
   physically attach a device to a computer. Magic Lantern, however, can 
be
   installed over the Internet by tricking a person into opening an 
email
   attachment. It is unclear whether Magic Lantern would transmit 
keystrokes it
   records back to the FBI over the Internet or store the information to 
be seized
   later in a raid. 

   Once up and running, it can reportably records all keystrokes, peer 
into file,
   and even translate encrypted words into readable text.

   How it works

   Based on media reports, Magic Lantern is essentially a trojan 
program. This
   is a software application that sits on a computer and runs without 
the user
   knowing that it's there. Trojan programs usually come disguised as an 
email
   attachment or an innocuous software download. For example, one 
popular
   trojan came hidden in a downloadable game called "Whack a Mole."

   Trojans thought to be similar to Magic Lantern include Netbus and 
Back
   Orifice. These trojans allow other people to control your computer 
via the
   Internet. When you run a program that contains the trojan, it will 
copy itself to
   the Windows or Windows\System directory and add itself to the 
system's
   Registry. 

   Once the program is completely installed onto a computer, it tries to 
hide itself
   on the task list. It doesn't show any icon or indication that it is 
running. The
   person who is controlling your computer uses a program that lets them 
record
   keystrokes, copy files, or basically do whatever they want.

   A threat to civil liberties?

   When news of Carnivore first hit, there was an uproar in the privacy 
community
   because the program seemed to scan the emails of many people, not 
just
   emails sent by people under suspicion. With Magic Lantern, privacy
   advocates are concerned for a different reason.

   On "CyberCrime," we interview Washington privacy advocate Mikal 
Condon,
   who is leading the charge to get more details about Magic Lantern out 
of the
   FBI. She believes the secrecy surrounding the technology is a serious 
threat
   to public privacy. Here's some commentary from around the Web 
examining
   the privacy concerns prompted by Magic Lantern. Stories supportive of 
the
   project are hard to come by as of yet since all the FBI has revealed 
so far is
   that Magic Lantern exists and is in development. The FBI repeatedly 
denied
   requests for comment by "CyberCrime." 

-- end of forwarded message --

-- 
Ciao
leandro
-> To answer me privately please remove MANISUDICIE from my address